An Islamic cleric has changed the life of Pakistani actress Veena Malik who has announced she is quitting commercial films and will only take part in projects with religious and social messages.

`I have quit the show-biz industry. From now onwards, I will not perform in Pakistani and Indian movies and plays,` said the 29-year-old actress who created a storm by posing topless for an Indian magazine.

`I am also going to refuse Indian film producers with whom I had agreed to work in their movies,` she said in an interview to a Pakistani journalist in Saudi Arabia, where she had gone to perform 'Umrah' with her Dubai-based husband Asad Bashir Khan Khattak and his family.

Malik said she would continue to `engage in any project which aims for welfare or social development` but would not be part of any new films.

She said religious scholar Maulana Tariq Jameel had changed her life completely. `Maulana sahib made me promise not to take off my dupatta (head scarf). And I will fulfil this promise for the rest of my life,` she said.


Malik said well-wishers from across the globe, including Indians and Pakistanis, have been congratulating her and Khattak on her decision.

`Like other humans I have also committed mistakes. I have sought forgiveness of my mistakes from God. Now I want to work for the welfare of the people of Pakistan,` she said.

Malik asked people to pray that she would be able to stick to the change in her life. `I have quit showbiz and I want people to pray for me so that I can stick to this change.`

However, a source in the media industry told newsmen that Malik has plans to host a morning show with her husband on a Pakistani news channel.

`Veena is in talks with the management of two news channels for the morning talk show,` the source said. Malik married Pakistani businessman-cum-singer Khattak in Dubai last year.